The police emerged as the most corrupt department in Pakistan scoring a 4.5 on a scale of one to five. PHOTO: TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL

Almost 49 per cent of Pakistanis have paid a bribe to an official in the government or private sector during the last twelve months according to a study released by Berlin-based non-governmental agency Transparency International on International Anti-Corruption Day.

The survey, which is part of the Global Corruption Barometer 2010 and conducted by Gallup Pakistan in the country, focused on nine areas, including education, police, political parties and the judiciary.

The police emerged as the most corrupt department, in the list of ‘institutions perceived to be most affected by corruption’, scoring a 4.5 on a scale of one to five (five being extremely corrupt). The rankings were:

Police

4.5

Public officials/civil servants

4.2

political parties

4.1

parliament/legislature

4.0

business/private sector

3.8

NGOs

3.8

judiciary

3.6

Media

3.3

Education system

3.1

Military

3.0

Religious bodies

2.8

In response to the question ‘In the past 3 years, how has the level of corruption in this country changed’, 77 per cent of Pakistanis believe that corruption has increased, while16 per cent believe nothing has changed and six per cent believe it has decreased.

On the current government’s effort to fight corruption, 73 per cent believe it is ineffective, while 12 per cent believe it is effective, 15 per cent said neither.

Worldwide, the study shows that one in four persons paid a bribe during the last one year. The study was compiled from polls conducted among more than 91,000 people in 86 countries.

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Reader Comments (22)

hey the figures are much lower then the actual figures..
why would anyone be surprised.. the whole education system is based on thieves teaching students… what do you get when a THIEF TEACHES? … a THIEFRecommend

49%? That sounds ridiculously low for Pakistan; I would have thought 99% of people pay bribes, with the remaining 1% consisting of the likes of Imran Khan alongside idealistic foreigners who are regularly fleeced for refusing to give bribes (think ‘oh so you don’t want to give me my cut? I’ve just re-calculated the tax you owe; it’s twice what you thought it was’)

Everything and everyone in Pakistan (bar Imran Khan and a few others) has a price. Hell, my cousin just had an international driving license made from Islamabad whilst sitting in North London. For him, giving and taking bribes is like breathing.

I really hope this comment isn’t put aside by the moderators; I speak the truth mere bhaiyo. Recommend

Cautious.. The only thing ISLAMIC bout this country i could find was that in 73… to get grouped with the OIL RICH ARABS.. the REPUBLIC of PAKISTAN changed its name to ISLAMIC REPUBLIC of Pakistan..
This gave the MULLAHS a free hand to encroach on as much land as they wanted.. and practice their rituals with impunity..
Time to see the reality .. there is NOTHING ISLAMIC about this country.. NOT ONE SINGLE THINGRecommend

lets not put the blame on the police and on other institutions its we people who give the bribe. and y r we putting the blame on others .we should change ourselves first and than the system will change automatically.all v cn do z criticise and never find the solutions.v r al same lyk paki politicians as on d talkshows dey criticise nd do nothingRecommend

BERLIN: One person in four worldwide paid bribe during the past year while 54 per cent Indians say they greased the palms of authorities to get things done, says a study released today to mark International Anti-Corruption Day.

India is among the countries topping the list for reported bribe payments over the year along with Afghanistan, Cambodia, Cameroon, Iraq, Liberia, Nigeria, the Palestinian territories, Senegal, Sierre Leone and Uganda. More than one person out of two in these countries said they had handed out financial sweeteners to officials.

The 2010 Global Corruption Barometer, by the Berlin-based non-governmental agency Transparency International, focuses on small-scale bribery and was put together from polls conducted among more than 91,000 people in 86 countries and territories.

The study reveals one person in four worldwide paid a bribe during the past year.

In the past 12 months, one in four paid a bribe to one of nine institutions, such as health, education or tax authorities, according to the 2010 Global Corruption Barometer.

But it was the police who proved most corrupt, according to the study which reported that 29 per cent of those having dealings with police said they had paid a bribe.

Worldwide, sub-Saharan Africa was the region reporting the greatest incidence of bribery with more than one person in two saying they had made such payments to officials in the past 12 months.

The Middle East and North Africa was the next most corrupt region with 36 per cent of people there reporting having paid a bribe.

This compared to 32 per cent in the former Soviet republics, 23 per cent in South America, 19 per cent in the Balkans and Turkey, 11 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region, and five per cent in the European Union and North America.

Nearly half of the respondents said they paid to avoid problems, while a quarter said it was meant to speed up procedures.

Lower income earners reported paying more bribes than the better paid.

The study, the seventh on the matter by Transparency International since 2003, this time involved a greater number of countries, including for the first time China, Bangladesh and the Palestinian territories.

Polling, mostly by the Gallup Institute, was conducted between June 1 and September 30.

The United Nations established International Anti-Corruption Day in 2003 to raise awareness of graft and promote the global fight against it.Recommend

Absolutely wrong figures. Its not 49%, even 94% is less number and police is one of the least corrupt department. In my opinion education department is most corrupt, followed by revenue, health and judiciary.Recommend

now our have to b made frm our very initial stage mean at home that if u have MONEY then u can do any thing that u want because on the behalf of money u really secure ur self so our first step that shoud b taken is at home Recommend

Bob,
everyone has a price.. in pakistan the price is very low… all teachers here are under one kind of threat or another.
if they dont take bribe.. they are threatened by the Management to change the grades… if they dont do that.. they are fired.
ALL teachers live under the threat of being attacked by the students who are there to get a DEGREE.. not to get an EDUCATION.Recommend